Better
by Ripplerose
Summary: Your light balances out the darkness in me. I don't know when, but all of a sudden, my entire existence is meant to protect you. And I can't bring myself to care.
1. Chapter 1

**Better**

Ogami Rei was not someone you would see as sentimental. He didn't cry during movies, and he didn't have very frequent moments of nostalgia. Since his entrance into the world of crime and pain, Rei thought of himself as trash. He was poison, stuck destroying other sinners in a pathetic attempt to atone for all the terrible deeds he'd committed.

Enter Sakura Sakurakouji. Nosy, curious, beautiful, loud, and led by an intense code of ethics. Rei's complete and total opposite. She'd had the misfortune to witness Ogami when he'd been destroying members of G-falcon. When he'd tried to burn her (he wasn't supposed to leave witnesses) she had again surprised him with the fact that she couldn't/wouldn't burn. She was then designated a "Rare Kind" and Rei was told to observe her, keep an eye on her.

Since then, Rei and Sakura had developed an odd sort of friendship. At school, they seemed like best friends (often more so as the boys and girls often thought they were dating) they spent all their time together. Of course, this started out mostly because Sakura was determined to make sure that Ogami wouldn't kill anyone as long as she was around. But while Sakura often got on Ogami's nerves, he couldn't bring himself to mind too much. She made him smile and laugh. Her determination to make him stop being a Code: Breaker was admirable.

Everyone who knew Ogami could see that he was changing. He seemed more open. He smiled more, spent more time on the piano, had more patience, and just seemed to have a warmer personality. If you asked Toki, he would say that

"His eyes don't look dead anymore."

When Sakura was taken by Hotomi along with the Prime Minister, Rei had a moment that would worry him for a while. When Hieke had asked

"Where's Sakura-san?" Ogami's heart stopped. Just for a second. He'd seen how crazy Hotomi had become. Where the hell was Sakurakouji-san?

Eventually the Code: Breakers escaped with Sakura, and things went back to normal. As time went on, obstacles were constantly thrown in their way, but they would handle them in any way possible. Rei became fiercely protective of Sakura, though she never noticed. And she in turn, got more determined to make him realize he had a soul, and that he was a good person.

So under the oddest circumstances, there would always be two teenagers, ready to face the world.


	2. Chapter 2:Balancing out the clouds

_A/N: In case you guys don't figure out, this is from Rei's point of view_

**Chapter 2: Balancing out the clouds**

You barged into my life unexpectedly, full of noise and protest. You used to annoy me, drive me up the wall to the point where I wanted to throw away my Noh mask and just burn your mouth off to stop you talking. Eventually I got used to it, to the point where I actually liked your cheerful chatter.

Your righteousness and naiveté always astounded me. How, in a world this full of sin; corruption, greed, and murder, do you maintain that pure innocence? How can you see the ugly underside of the city every time you come with me, and not lose some of the hope and optimism that is so much a part of you? I don't understand it.

The lengths you'll go to stop me from killing really is extraordinary. It worries me quite a lot, not that you realize it. You'd risk your life to save an unworthy, useless, _evil _person. It would be rather ironic if it weren't so frustrating.

You are the light in the world of darkness that I had created. You broke through every single wall I'd erected around my heart, as easily as breathing. Every time I look at you, smiling, laughing, and enjoying yourself, I feel an odd emotion. It's a bone deep emotion that urges me to pull you close with one arm, and draw a sword against the rest of the world with the other. Every time you risk yourself during our escapades, I feel the pang of unease and the metallic taste of fear. There's always the voice in the back of my head asking:

"_What if this time, she doesn't come back?" _You think I fret this way about everyone, that I'm secretly a worry-wart and that it's needless to stress because you'll be fine. But the thought of you, lying cold and unmoving on the ground scares me in a way that words can't describe. I can't tell you how many sleepless nights I've spent tossing and turning in my sleep, fighting against nightmares where you don't wake up smiling.

You are the sun in my never ending midnight. When my skies are grey, you give me warmth. You balance out the clouds, and let me see the sky and rainbows.

I don't know when, but at some point my entire existence suddenly became about protecting you. Nothing else mattered; not friends, family, Code: Breakers, or even evil.

And I can't bring myself to care.


	3. Chapter 3: Courage

_A/N: This chapter is from Sakura's Point of view_

**Chapter 3: Courage**

_"Courage is not living without fear; courage is being scared to death, but doing the right thing anyway." _

My parents have always told me that doing the right thing is the most important. And since you popped into my life, spreading death and destruction, I've found that the rule I have taken for granted all my life, is easier said than done.

In a way, I understand your reasoning for killing. It may not seem like it, but I do. You want to get rid of these "evil" people so that they won't hurt anyone else, or do anything else more terrible. But while you say that I need to see "the bigger picture" it's all rather odd. You see, you believe yourself to be a tool, someone who is used to get rid of others, based off what they've done wrong. But you don't realize that the ones you don't get told to kill, but murder anyway, have a specific meaning. You believe that you don't have emotions, you don't feel regret for the murders you commit. But I know that you truly believe that you're doing the right thing. That this is the only way to keep balance. But you're wrong Ogami! You're so very wrong!

I never realized quite how ignorant I was of the goings on in my own city until I met you. I like to see the good in people, and my friends say I trust to easily. This may be the case. But I believe that all people are essentially good. For them to enact evil deeds there must have been a cause. You think the opposite.

While I disagree with your methods, there are many things I do admire about you. You're emotions always surprise me. At school, you keep a Noh mask on your face, letting other students believe what they want because it makes it easier for you. But I love to see you when your guard is down. The way your feelings come out in little bursts is very funny!

I also admire your determination and courage to do the right thing. You will risk your life to complete a mission. You will also protect me, even if we've fought. You may be afraid, but you stand up and defend what you think is right. We may disagree on the way to go about doing this, but the driving focus for both of us is rather similar.

You are the darkness, at least that's how you put it. I don't think you're dark. You're sad, scared, trapped, and lost. But you're not dark. You're just looking for a hand to hold, a way to reach the sunlight. You showed me the more ugly side of humanity, but still you put yourself in harm's way, if it will keep those you care about safe. This is not darkness Rei-kun. It's actually light. You just don't realize it.

I don't know when or how it happened, but all of a sudden, my entire life has become about showing you that you are truly a good person. Nothing else matters; not your past, Eden's politics, the way you fight with Toki. None of it matters.

And I can't bring myself to care.


End file.
